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Yeah! We made it to Yap! I am writing from the tele-communications center in the main town (Colonia). Its only $4 an hour to use the internet. We forgot to bring our camera cable to upload the pictures we've taken already so that will be another time. We are just assuming it will work. I am eyeing a number of loose wires and hacked off cables haning out of the wall so I'm not sure...
Well, anyway. Our story begins while we were still in Tucson. After dropping off our kids to the great people who are taking care of them we went back home to do some serious packing. While collecting our travel documents together we realised that we couldn't find Jeff's passport. But since all you need to do is prove US citizenship we weren't too worried. But then we realised that we don;t have a copy of Jeff's birth certificate. Oh well. We have a social security card and our absentee ballots...lets just go.
So in LA the guys at the Continental counter was the first to eye our documentation in askance. He dug out a book with the rules and stated that a social security card was not going to cut it. We ran over to a pay phone to call Jeff's dad to see if he could fax a copy (assuming he had one handy). We got the answering machine but left a message... So after consulting with the airline guy again we figured out that our documentation could get us as far as Guam anyway. That seemed like a nice enough destination so we decided to go on and hope we could work out the birth certificate problem later.
So the next stop was Honolulu. What lovely memories of Suriname flowers did I find in their airport garden! But we must not forget the birth certificate. So Jeff called his dad again and this time he was there and had already faxed a birth certificate to LA. But now we needed it in Honolulu so he cheerfully went out and sent it again. Amazingly, it arrived right before we had to board the plane for Guam! We didn't have time to get it notarized but we had hope that we might actually get all the way to Yap.
On the flight to Guam we frittered away the 7 hours by watching movies (without sound). I watched Spiderman 2 and felt that I didn't need the sound at all! It was a very good movie---I think. There seemed to be some closure on tense problems from the first movie. Anyway, my other choices were "White Chicks" and "The Chronicles of Riddick". When we had enough TV I read my book while Jeff played various chess & solitare games on their computer thingy.
The food was actually decent and I really liked the coffee. The flight attendant made a face when I said it was good coffee and commented that it was way to strong. I just smiled and felt superior since it must be superior to like strong coffee. Never mind that its really the only kind I have been exposed to...thanks to my superior friends....
We also met 2 guys traveling to Guam to help out with a church plant that they had participated in recently. They offered to help us if we ended up vacationing in Guam instead of Yap. So we got there address and stuff. Really...you are never alone!
So when we got to Guam we wanted to go right away and find out if we were OK to go on to Yap. But the people don't get to the desk until its time to board the plane and there's no other staff....hmm...so we paced the airport looking at "duty free" make-up and brand-name clothes that we would never wear in a million years!!
When the gate people finally got there we gathered our pitiful documentation together and approached the desk. I was so nervous I was tempted to go elsewhere so I wouldn't have to participate in the suspense! But I quickly chastised myself for not feeling up to all the adventure God was offering. So I waited while Jeff asked. The one girl looked at Jeff's faxed certicate skeptically and quietly listened to our story. Then she leaned over to an older lady and said "Hawaii sent them on with a faxed birth certificate. They want to go to Yap." The older lady glanced at it and said "Its OK" and went back to her work without missing a beat. The girl started writing out a boarding pass and that was that! I was sooooooooo happy.
Our flight to Yap was short compared to the others but I was sooooo tired. After the adventurous part was over I relaxed so much I could hardly keep my eyes open. We sat next to a woman from Slovakia who was going to join her American husband in Yap. He works with the attorney general here. She was a delightful traveling companion.
We arrived in Yap and were greeted by the tourist greeters with flower crown things. As I leaned over to get my crown put on I realised that it was indeed socially acceptable for the Yap ladies to go topless. I smiled, thinking about how Caleb and Jesse would be giggling and blushing all the way to the hotel!
We had a few interesting minutes while the airplane greeters realised that we had no hotel in mind. They offered the Manta Ray and we explained that we were very poor tourists. They cheerfully offered to take us to a hotel that Jeff mentioned as being a cheap one. One guy said he would give us a ride. It was slightly harrowing as he prepared his beetlenut pack while swerving around the road. But it was worse when he graciously called ahead to make sure there was someone there to recieve us. Dialing his cell-phone in the dark while swerving--but nevermind. It all turned out well. The proprieter lady had just returned from a haunted house event and was happy to have us. We were suprised at the Halloween festivities and she said it was a bit silly since nobody knew anything about it but they like the costumes and candy...
We dropped into bed, exhausted...and slept a long time.
Yap is beautiful and the people are very kind. Its warm and wet but the rain is only for short periods. The flowers are great.
Now we are heading off to the more remote areas of the island so we probably won't be in internet contact for a week or so...
See ya. Jeff and Emily | 
